--Light day in practice today but our final viewing of fall camp was definitely an interesting one. You can tell we're at the point of fall camp where there's a bunch of bumps and bruises and a number of players were either sitting this one out or limited with a rainbow of jersey colors. Nothing seemed serious as many were still walking through drills, but that's what happens at this stage of fall camp especially when considering how physical this one was supposed to be.
--Players snapping the ball at the beginning of practice today were Zach Frazier, Brandon Yates, Doug Nester and Landen Livingston. Things opened up with goal line pass again as the quarterbacks had to thread the window and place the ball into the wide receivers. On kickoff return, players such as Beanie Bishop, Justin Johnson, Jaheim White and Preston Fox were back there. There was the typical juice period and stretching before things moved into the meat of the practice.
--West Virginia practiced two-point play to open practice and the defense won 3-2 on the five tries, although there was a very nifty play that resulted in a touchdown during this period to Traylon Ray. Speaking of Ray, he really stood out to me in this practice given the opportunity he was given. He had a number of impressive catches down the field and is simply smooth at the wide receiver spot. He made some contested grabs as well where he was able to get his feet down. I'm not sure how much he plays this year, but he's a guy I'll be tracking.
--The defense continued to rotate players in the various drills with the first unit being DE Dae Dae Hawkins, NG Mike Lockhart, DT Eddie Vesterinen, LB Lee Kpogba, LB Jairo Faverus, SPEAR Hershey McLaurin, BANDIT Jared Bartlett, CAT Anthony Wilson, FREE Aubrey Burks, CB Malachi Ruffin and CB Beanie Bishop. But throughout the day those players would rotate depending on the drill with Andrew Wilson-Lamp seeing time at cornerback and Tray Lathan or Ben Cutter at LB for example. There was still some shuffling going on across the board.
--The first unit on the offensive line remained unchanged with LT Wyatt Milum, LG Tomas Rimac, C Zach Frazier, RG Ja'Quay Hubbard and RT Doug Nester. Garrett Greene was the first quarterback out there in most drills, while the wide receivers were Cortez Braham, Traylon Ray. Both CJ Donaldson and Jaheim White saw some time in two-back looks but White also played some at slot. Like Ray, I have been really impressed with White this fall camp. He isn't the biggest guy but he gets where he's going quickly with little wasted movement and also is an impressive pass catcher. I think there is room for him to see the field and have a role this fall.
--Players were then were broken up into individual drills and then group work before shifting to some other team activities.
--In red zone, Greene hit both Ray and White for touchdowns behind the defense and completed 2/3 passes for 2 touchdowns, while Marchiol completed 2/3 for one touchdown with White catching scores from both of the signal callers. On the positive side, I didn't see any turnovers for the quarterbacks today although a couple throws were dicey. Remember some of these drills are designed to put pressure on the quarterbacks and make things difficult. One thing that is very noticeable is that Greene and Marchiol really support each other and were seen practicing high-five routines and other things during breaks between drills. Greene had some nice plays with his legs today including what would have been a long touchdown run, while Marchiol made a very good throw on the run. Both of these guys are much more athletic than what the Mountaineers have had in the past.
--Didn't see a miss from the field goal kickers today which is always good. West Virginia had end of half situations, and each of the attempts were booted though the uprights.
--Kole Taylor had a nice touchdown grab today and continues to be an intriguing target to me given his size and ability to move in the middle of the field.
--But the catch of the day goes to Jarel Williams who and made a turning adjusting touchdown catch in the corner of the end zone from Marchiol that caused his teammates and even offensive coordinator Chad Scott to go nuts and elevate off the ground.
--West Virginia also threw a team empty session at the defense and worked end of half situations.
--The scrimmage will be tomorrow and that should give us some indication in these position battles.
--Players snapping the ball at the beginning of practice today were Zach Frazier, Brandon Yates, Doug Nester and Landen Livingston. Things opened up with goal line pass again as the quarterbacks had to thread the window and place the ball into the wide receivers. On kickoff return, players such as Beanie Bishop, Justin Johnson, Jaheim White and Preston Fox were back there. There was the typical juice period and stretching before things moved into the meat of the practice.
--West Virginia practiced two-point play to open practice and the defense won 3-2 on the five tries, although there was a very nifty play that resulted in a touchdown during this period to Traylon Ray. Speaking of Ray, he really stood out to me in this practice given the opportunity he was given. He had a number of impressive catches down the field and is simply smooth at the wide receiver spot. He made some contested grabs as well where he was able to get his feet down. I'm not sure how much he plays this year, but he's a guy I'll be tracking.
--The defense continued to rotate players in the various drills with the first unit being DE Dae Dae Hawkins, NG Mike Lockhart, DT Eddie Vesterinen, LB Lee Kpogba, LB Jairo Faverus, SPEAR Hershey McLaurin, BANDIT Jared Bartlett, CAT Anthony Wilson, FREE Aubrey Burks, CB Malachi Ruffin and CB Beanie Bishop. But throughout the day those players would rotate depending on the drill with Andrew Wilson-Lamp seeing time at cornerback and Tray Lathan or Ben Cutter at LB for example. There was still some shuffling going on across the board.
--The first unit on the offensive line remained unchanged with LT Wyatt Milum, LG Tomas Rimac, C Zach Frazier, RG Ja'Quay Hubbard and RT Doug Nester. Garrett Greene was the first quarterback out there in most drills, while the wide receivers were Cortez Braham, Traylon Ray. Both CJ Donaldson and Jaheim White saw some time in two-back looks but White also played some at slot. Like Ray, I have been really impressed with White this fall camp. He isn't the biggest guy but he gets where he's going quickly with little wasted movement and also is an impressive pass catcher. I think there is room for him to see the field and have a role this fall.
--Players were then were broken up into individual drills and then group work before shifting to some other team activities.
--In red zone, Greene hit both Ray and White for touchdowns behind the defense and completed 2/3 passes for 2 touchdowns, while Marchiol completed 2/3 for one touchdown with White catching scores from both of the signal callers. On the positive side, I didn't see any turnovers for the quarterbacks today although a couple throws were dicey. Remember some of these drills are designed to put pressure on the quarterbacks and make things difficult. One thing that is very noticeable is that Greene and Marchiol really support each other and were seen practicing high-five routines and other things during breaks between drills. Greene had some nice plays with his legs today including what would have been a long touchdown run, while Marchiol made a very good throw on the run. Both of these guys are much more athletic than what the Mountaineers have had in the past.
--Didn't see a miss from the field goal kickers today which is always good. West Virginia had end of half situations, and each of the attempts were booted though the uprights.
--Kole Taylor had a nice touchdown grab today and continues to be an intriguing target to me given his size and ability to move in the middle of the field.
--But the catch of the day goes to Jarel Williams who and made a turning adjusting touchdown catch in the corner of the end zone from Marchiol that caused his teammates and even offensive coordinator Chad Scott to go nuts and elevate off the ground.
--West Virginia also threw a team empty session at the defense and worked end of half situations.
--The scrimmage will be tomorrow and that should give us some indication in these position battles.
